Talk:AIF/@comment-10905876-20160916034614
OOC: Big post inbound. IC: -Fondor- Several important events have occurred in the shadow of the Protoss attack. The warp synchronization project has reached completion, though the Enterprise had to be recalled to Earth. Commodore Riley, having missed the recent actions, has remained in the Telos system. During his stay, he was given all data on the warp sync project. He then submitted a proposal for another possible use, the attacking of hostile vessels while they travel at warp. Simulations were conducted, including a Pioneer class vessel performing a simulated attack run on a Katar class cruiser. Now was the final test of the theoretical uses of the technology, a live fire test with a warship. The warship selected however is not the Enterprise, or indeed any of the Ascendant Justice class battleships in service. Instead, it is a new vessel, constructed in conjunction with the development of the warp synchronization project. The ships is named the Andromeda, and possesses a design unlike previous AIF combat vessels, though members of Starfleet would recognize some similarities their ships. The bow is a fairly traditional triangular shape, stretching back around 1600 meters. Her toughness overall also puts her nicely in the middle size battleship range with 2.2 millions GJ, though her operational designation is a battlecruiser. That is where the traditional design ends however. The rear half of the Andromeda's length is dominated by her engines. The back of the triangular primary hull ends in impulse engines, while a rear "secondary" hull extends off the back of the ship with its front blending with the primary hull. Branching off of this are two massive armored struts, which support two massive warp engines, contained in structures dubbed "warp nacelles". The nacelles are separated from the ship to allow a more stable warp field to be generated, and to allow easy removal and replacement in case of damage. The secondary hull houses much of the ship's power generation equipment as well, with four of Andromeda's six fusion reactors housed there. The other two fusion cores, along with a small auxiliary warp drive in the likely case of damage to the nacelles, are housed in the primary hull. The Andromeda sports a considerable armament as well. 24 Comet type missile tubes are fitted along the rim of the primary hull, along with plentiful reloads in armored plasma resistant magazines. There are also numerous 204cm turrets, with a combination of railguns and lasers fitted, the majority being lasers. Lighter 53cm and 36cm turrets also provide extra firepower and defense, while 127mm point defense lasers dot the hull. In the bow, a large weapons bay allows for the installation of a powerful forward gun during construction. Andromeda mounts an ion cannon, however a laser based weapon can also be mounted on other ships in the class. -AIF shuttle, en route to the Andromeda (note, this will be in a first person perspective)- I sat in the passenger cabin of the shuttle, shifting between staring at the grey bulkhead, and out the viewport to my right. For the most part, there was not much worth seeing, most of the shipyard orbital docks were just specks. I couldn't see my destination, the viewport I had was only side mounted, though I could probably have pulled rank and joined the pilots up front. The journey was soon over however. As my shuttle approached, I saw the ''Andromeda, my new flagship, complete for the first time. I let out a gasp at the sight of her. Yes, I know I had seen blueprints and holographic models and even seen her partly built built skeleton when I joined the Enterprise on a test run, all of that. But seeing her finished, already coming to life, was something spectacular.'' She was very different from the standard Imperial warship at the time. Granted, ''Andromeda did not completely abandon the tried and true methods of Imperial warship design. Her forward half is a traditional sleek triangular hull, but the aft section was radically different. Twin nacelles attached to thick pylons to a rear extension of the hull, which housed much of her engine power.'' My gazing was soon cut short. The shuttle was docking at the construction station, and I had a mission to fulfill. There would be plenty of time to admire her later from the observation pod up top. I un strapped myself, and headed to the airlock. After a short bit of brisk walking, I arrived at the airlock connecting to my new ship. I press the airlock key, opening the pressure doors. As I stepped aboard, I heard the familiar call of whistles and officers calling crew to attention. "Commodore on deck!" I returned the crisp salutes of the crew, then dismissed them as I headed to the bridge. "Commodore Riley?" "Yes." "Commander Montgomery Dean, at your service sir!" I examined the officer standing before me. He was tall, with a muscular build and shiny shaven head. A face that I would become familiar with in the coming month trip home. Indeed, I would likely become familiar with much of the crew, though it could be difficult on such a large ship. "At ease, commander. You are my first officer, yes?" "That is correct sir. Been with Andromeda since the start of construction. I am looking forward to launching." "Indeed. She is quite the feat of engineering." We continued the way to the bridge in silence. Soon, we were at the main bridge. Warship design trends in the Imperial fleet for some time now have strayed towards bridges buried deep within the hull. Smaller ships still had exposed bridges, but all the latest capital warships had theirs deep below armored domes, often with a few decks in between with extra armor around the compartment itself. ''Andromeda was no different. As we passed through the armored doors, the bridge crew snapped to attention at their posts. Commander Dean barking out calls to attention as we enter.'' "Commodore on the Bridge!" I dismissed them and then took in the bridge. It was roughly rectangular in shape, with rounded corners and a domed ceiling. The front wall housed a largish monitor, which served as an exterior camera feed, displayed relevant shipboard data including a detailed damage readout, and in the rare case of visual communication it served as the view screen for that. Along either wall were most of the crew stations. Helm and navigation controls faced forward, though their station chairs could swivel to face additional controls on the side bulkhead. I mused to myself how very different this bridge was to my old ''Chulainn, and wondered how O'Brien was performing as a freshly minted captain...'' The center of the bridge was dominated by a large table, which housed a holographic emitter. This was arguably the most important tactical component of the bridge, providing a three dimensional depiction of the battle. At the moment, it showed a stylized representation of the ''Andromeda, along with her construction station. Behind the table, were several chairs that appeared to be command chairs. I would likely spend much time in one during my time as commander of this vessel. Of course, I knew I'd prefer to be standing during the battle, pondering the tactical map along with glances at the readouts on the forward monitor. My gaze continued to the rear of the compartment, there were a few more hatches, at least one undoubtedly leading to a ready room or office of sorts. Finally, I looked at the aft bulkhead. On it, much to my surprise, was a station that dispensed tea, along with a warp engine status display. I couldn't help but wonder about the coddling officers on capital ships must get at times as I walked to the command chair.'' "Station control has cleared us to depart commodore." "Very well. Stand by to separate moorings, clear all airlocks and detach." As I gave the orders, an alarm sounded to clear airlocks. A few moments later, I heard the muffled metallic clank-hiss of airlock separation. "Airlocks detached, ready to retract moorings." "Separate all moorings. Helm, aft thrusters, take us out slowly." A quieter clicking noise reverberated through the ship as the last physical attachments to the building station detached. I felt the slightest inkling of acceleration as the ship began to move. After all, inertial compensators could only do so much. I watched as the holographic display indicated our movement, while the forward monitor displayed a feed from a camera on the observation pod. "We are clear of spacedock, Fondor says we are free to navigate." "Very well, set a course taking us out of system. Engineering, status of impulse engines and warp drive?" "All engines ready at your command sir. This warp core looks eager to enter warp, and I'm eager to see these engines put to work!" "Understood engineering, you'll get your chance shortly. Helm, thirty percent impulse until we clear the base, then go to full power." "Thirty percent impulse, aye sir!" I settled in to my command chair, examining it more closely as the crew guided the ship towards the outer parts of the Telos system. There were multiple control panels, including display screens and a small joystick. My best guess would be that this was so the captain could take direct control for precise maneuvers, or keep the ship going during evacuations. "Clearing Telos System." "Navigator, are calculations ready to take us to the test sector?" "Calculations ready sir, awaiting your command." "Very good. Input calculations to the navigation computer. Engineering, stand by for warp. Helm, prepare for warp jump, maximum velocity." "Aye sir." "All system ready for warp, awaiting final command." "Engage warp engines." A new low hum became audible, not unlike a jet engine, but much, much lower. After a few moments of tensely watching readouts, the bridge crew began to settle in. The holo-table now showed our trajectory, and the forward monitor cycled through reports on various system statuses with a visual graphic highlight where the relevant system was. I absentmindedly fiddled with my own view screen, eventually getting an aft camera on the primary hull showing the engines. They glowed almost blindingly with blue light, which emanated from grills along the inboard sides of both nacelles. Several hours elapsed as we travelled to the test zone. The trip was uneventful, though the either the incredible power of the engines or the recent disruptions to space-time buffeted the ship occasionally. Eventually, the navigator called out that we were approving the dropout point, commencing a countdown to warp engine stop. "...Five, four, three, two, one, mark. All stop warp engines!" "All stop aye!" The ship glided out of warp, the stars becoming still and appearing to regress forward for a brief moment. "Engines stopped, warp core recharging for next jump." "Position confirmed, scanning for contacts... Contact spotted bearing three five seven by zero four two. Identity confirmed, it's our test partner." "Engineering, how long until your engines are ready?" "Engineer Tucker here, we can warp in fifteen minutes on the main core. Of course, we got the emergency core ready to go now, but that can't warp sync, so, yeah." "Understood engineering. Helm, steer us towards our target in the meantime." The ship moved in under impulse power, swinging about for a retrograde burn as we neared the target vessel. Our target was an old ''Euclidean class freighter that had been harassed by Protoss forces before making an escape to Telos. It had been written off, and acquired by the fleet for use as a target drone. Now, partly repaired and with some armor tacked on in places for the test, it waited. Soon however, the fifteen minutes were up, and preparations were made for a warp intercept.'' "Get that target drone under weigh. We can't intercept a static target! Engines prepare for warp intercept. All hands man battle stations, ready weapons." "Drone is entering warp." "Tracking trajectory. Intercept plotted." "Engines ready." "Full warp power, initiate intercept." "Full warp aye." "Warp drive at maximum." The low hum from before returned, however it was louder this time, and had a slightly dissonant sound as well. The holo-table showed the two ships, ''Andromeda was rapidly closing on the target freighter already.'' "Beginning power drain on target warp field." "Power drain increasing, diverting excess power to weapons." "Fields merging." The ship vibrated with the massive power being generated and consumed. Large jolts would indicate resistance to field merging by the target drone, but soon the fields merged. ''Andromeda forced her way in, pushing and widening the warp fields to make a single large bubble. On the view monitor, the freighter was in clear view, the simple AI controlling it already attempting to evade. "Fire." The lasers and railguns on the primary hull erupted in a massive volley. Immediately apparent was the damage, the target began to disintegrate in places. Chunks of hull rip away, shattering at the bubble's edge or bouncing off ''Andromeda's armored hull. By the second salvo, it's warp drive was hit, causing the field to begin collapsing, but still encompassing the ship.'' "Target has lost engines. Heavy hull damage." The warp bubble receded to the bow of the hapless drone target. The front of the ship ripped and distorted, before the entire hull was wrenched from warp, by then a mostly lifeless derelict. ''Andromeda dropped out of warp behind after looping around, charging the remains of the ship and delivering a single plasma tipped missile. The heat and impact rent the remains apart, leaving several large chunks where a ship once was.'' "Send a message to Admiralty on our successful test. Then tell Fondor about the remains so they can salvage it. Navigator, begin calculations for warp to Earth. We'll have a month, so you should be able to get us within lunar orbit, even with the instabilities." After a few hours of calculating, we entered warp. Based on our apparent speed, it would be a month to get home. Time enough to get acquainted with my new ship and crew...